Eastern New England English, historically known as the Yankee dialect since at least the nineteenth century,[1][2] is the traditional regional dialect of Maine, New Hampshire, and the eastern half of Massachusetts.[3][4] Features of this variety once spanned an even larger dialect area of New England, for example, including the eastern half of Vermont as recently as the mid-twentieth century.[5] Studies vary as to whether the unique dialect of Rhode Island falls within the Eastern New England dialect region.[6]

Eastern New England English (here, including Rhode Island English) is classically associated with sound patterns such as non-rhoticity (or r-dropping after a vowel); both variants of Canadian raising, including a fairly back starting position of the /aʊ/ vowel (as in MOUTH);[7][8] and some variation of the PALM–LOT–THOUGHT vowel distinctions, the marry–merry distinction, or both.[9] Certain Eastern New England English characteristics are retreating as some younger Eastern New Englanders avoid them, particularly non-rhoticity and the aforementioned distinctions,[10][11] which they tend to perceive as old-fashioned, rural-sounding,[12] or negatively associated with working-class Boston. New Hampshire speakers on the whole are particularly well-documented as retreating from those features since the mid-twentieth century onwards.[13][14]

Non-rhoticity: The r sound may be "dropped" or "silent" if it is not before a vowel; therefore, in words like car, letter, horse, poor, etc. The feature is retreating and is not found in many younger speakers,[15] for example, in virtually no speakers born since the mid-1900s in southeastern New Hampshire.[13]

Linking and intrusive r: The non-rhotic r may be pronounced after all if it is followed by a vowel, even a vowel that begins the next word in the sentence. Also, any word that ends in /ə/ (as in Cuba), /ɑ/ (as in spa), or /ɔ/ (as in law) can be followed by an unwritten r sound when followed by a vowel sound in the next word: thus, law and public safety sounds like Lauren public safety.

Fronting of /ɑr/: The vowel of words like car, park, heart, stark, etc. is pronounced farther to the front of the vocal tract than in most other dialects, so that car, for example, is something like [ka]. This, plus non-rhoticity, is often associated with the shibboleth "Park the car in Harvard yard." This fronting is seldom reported in Rhode Island, in which car is more often [kɑ].[16]

Backing of /u/: The vowel of goose, rude, coup, etc. remains pronounced relatively far back in the mouth.[17]

Horse–hoarse merger in transition: The vowel of words like war versus wore, or morning versus mourning, are mostly produced either very close or the same in Eastern New England; however, as of the early 2000s, such vowels may still be pronounced differently by some Eastern New England speakers, especially in Maine.[18] Conversely, the merger of the vowels is largely complete elsewhere in the United States.

Lack of mary–marry–merry merger: Before intervocalic /r/, the vowels /ɛə/ (/eɪ/ in rhotic varieties), /æ/ and /ɛ/ (as in Mary, marry, and merry) are distinguished from one another. However, recent studies have shown that there is an emerging tendency in Northeastern New England to merge them to some extent. In contrast, Southeastern New England (namely, Rhode Island) continues to keep them all separate, as in the New York City area and Britain.[18]

The terms "frappe" to mean "thick milkshake";[20] "bubbler" (also found in Wisconsin) to mean "water fountain";[21] and "tonic" to mean "sweet carbonated soft drink" (called "soda" elsewhere in New England),[22] are largely unique to northeastern (and, to a lesser extent, southeastern) New England English vocabulary. Using "jimmies" to mean "(chocolate) sprinkles" is primarily a phenomenon of the Boston area,[23] though also stably reported in Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.[24] In addition to the widespread term "wicked," the word "pisser," often phonetically spelled "pissa(h)," is another Northeastern New England intensifier (plus sometimes an uncountable noun) for something that is very highly regarded by the speaker.[25]

Northeastern New England English, popularly recognized as a Boston or Maine accent, in addition to all the above phonological features, further includes the merger of the vowel in cot and caught to [ɒ~ɑ], often with a slightly rounded quality, but a resistance to the merger of the vowels in father versus bother, a merger that is otherwise common throughout North America. Also, for speakers born before 1950, the words half and pass (and, before World War II, also ask and can't) are pronounced with a "broad a," like in spa: [haf] and [pas].

Boston, Massachusetts is the birthplace and most famous site of Eastern New England English. Historically, a Northeastern type of New England English spread from metropolitan Boston into metropolitan Worcester, the bulk of New Hampshire, and central and coastal Maine.[26] Boston speech also originated many slang and uniquely local terms that have since spread throughout Massachusetts and Eastern New England.[27] Although mostly non-rhotic, the modern Boston accent typically pronounces the r sound in the NURSE vowel, /ɜr/, as in bird, learn, turkey, world, etc.

The old Maine accent, the closest remnant today to an old Yankee regional accent, includes the phonology mentioned above, plus the breaking of /ɛə/ (as in there), /ɪə/ (as in here), and /oə/ (as in more) each into two syllables: they-uh, hee-yuh, and moh-uh; some distinct vocabulary is also used in this accent.[28] Maine is one of the last American regions to resist the horse–hoarse merger. This continued resistance was verified by some speakers in a 2006 study of Bangor and Portland, Maine,[18] yet contradicted by a 2013 study that reported the merger as embraced by Portland speakers "of all ages".[29] The traditional horse–hoarse separation means that words like war and wore may sound different: war rhyming with law, and wore rhyming with boa. Unlike the Boston accent, this traditional Maine accent may be non-rhotic entirely: even in the pronunciation of /ɜr/.

The traditional Southeastern New England English accent, popularly known as a Rhode Island accent, in addition to all the features mentioned under the phonology section above, also includes a sharp distinction in the vowels of Mary, marry, and merry and in the vowels in cot[ɑ] versus caught[oə],[41] plus the pronunciation of /ɑr/, as in car, far back in the mouth as [ɑ~ɑə]—these three features making this New England accent noticeably similar to a New York accent.[42][43] These features are often unlike the modern Northeastern New England (NENE) dialect of Boston, as is Rhode Island's feature of a completed father–bother merger, shared with the rest of the country outside of NENE.[44] A few terms are unique only to this area, such as the word cabinet to mean "milkshake" (particularly, coffee cabinets),[20]pizza strips (Italian tomato pie strips served cold without cheese), and coffee milk.[45]